Not so sweet smell of success
by mickys411
Summary: During a ghostbusters family outing, the team (mainly Peter) tells the story of an unpleasant event that happened to Ray, while on a job assignment at the Central Park Zoo
1. Chapter 1

Even though the ghostbusters team broke up quite a few years ago, once every month, the four of them would meet up with their families and enjoy a day together.  
On one Saturday the group, which consisted of eight adults, two teenagers, and seven kids, were deciding what they should do.  
"The museum," suggested Lila Spengler.  
"The park," added Rhonda and Gerald Zeddmore.  
"Coney Island," said Peter Venkman Jr.  
" What about the fun zone," asked Tabitha Venkman.  
"The zoo," spoke Andrew Stantz.  
"The arcade," suggested Oscar Barrett-Venkman.  
"Whatever any picks I'm fine with," said Jessica Carmine-Zeddmore.  
"Same with me," added Christopher Carmine-Zeddmore.  
"That's a lot of choices," said Winston with a chuckle.  
"Looks like we have to take a vote," added Ray  
"Wait a minute, we always rotate every month which family picks the suggestion," Egon pointed out.  
"So, who's month is it then?" asked Peter.  
"I believe it's Ray's turn."  
"Looks like we're going to the zoo," said Ray.  
Andrew was very happy about that.  
The other kids were fine with the deision as well.  
"By the way Ray, watch out for the skunks," Peter laughed.  
"What's "uncle" Peter talking about papa?" asked Andrew.  
"Uh, it's a long story.  
A long embarrassing story," Ray answered.  
"I want to hear it."  
"Me to," Rhonda and Gerald said at the same time.  
"I'd like to hear the story to," added Lila.  
"I wanna hear it," said Peter Jr.  
"Same with me," added Tabitha.  
"That makes three of us," spoke Oscar.  
"I'm sure it's not that embarrassing "uncle" Ray," said Jessica.  
"Believe me it is," said Ray.  
"Exactly what did happen "uncle" Ray?" asked Christopher.  
Ray let out a deep breath and said, "OK you all talked me into it.  
I'll tell the story.  
This all happened before a lot of you kids were born, with the exception of Oscar and before Winston reunited with your aunt.  
In fact, it took place a few months after we opened again for business."

Nearly nine years earlier.

The city of New York was having one of it's hottest days in history.  
Although summer had now made way for fall, the temperatures were still in the high 80's.  
"I don't understand it, it's early October and it still feels like July outside," said Peter, who was working on a plug-in air conditioner.  
"The term is called Indian summer Venkman, and it's actually not unusually for it to happen this time of year," answered Egon, who was tuning a PKE meter.  
"Let's just hope it cools down soon, running around in this terrible heat with a heavy proton pack on is no day in the park," said Winston, who along with Ray was working on Ecto-1.  
"You can say that again.  
Plus, with the car's air conditioning running, it's eating up the gas," Ray pointed out.  
"Well, gentlemen and lady, Peter said to his fellow ghostbusters and Jeanie, the team's receptionist, No need to worry about frying in the firehouse.  
I made some adjustments to the AC."  
He then plugged in the device, and flicked the switch on.  
When that happened, the fan blew air at a high, powerful speed, blowing papers and other objects around in sight.  
"Shut it off!" Everyone shouted to Peter at once.  
Peter tried to make his way back to the fan to shut it off, but the wind was so strong, it knocked him to the ground.  
Luckily, Egon knelt behind the fan, and pulled the plug out of the socket, causing it to stop blowing hard air.  
"I was going to do that," said Peter.  
"Sure, yeah right," said Ray and Winston.  
Egon was giving Jeanie a hand picking up her paperwork off the floor, when the phone rang.  
She thanked him for the help and went to see who was calling.  
"Ghostbusters.  
Yes, how many?  
Where?  
Yes, I'll tell them.  
Thank you, good-bye."  
Jeanie hung up the phone and Winston asked, "What do we have Jeanie?"  
"Spooks at Central Park," she answered.  
"We're one our way," spoke Ray.  
The ghostbusters quickly changed into their uniforms, loaded the car up with their proton packs and other equipment, and headed off to their assignment.

When they arrived at their destination, the team saw crowds of people running amoke in all directions.  
"Looks like we're at the right place," said Peter.  
"Come on, let's go check it out," said Winston.  
Equipped with their packs on, the ghostbusters went straight to work.  
"According to the meter, higher readings are heading westward," Egon pointed out, as he checked on a PKE meter.  
"Spengler, you can't really based that off the meter," spoke Peter.  
However, sure enough when the team headed to the westside of the park, they could see that more chaos was happening in the direction by the zoo.  
"Any more comments Venkman?"  
"Let's just bust some ghosts."  
"I don't see any," Winston pointed out.  
At that moment, a group, about seven class five roaming vapors flew right passed the team, as the ghouls chased a few tourists.  
The ghostbusters went after the ghosts.  
"Beatrice, I can't believe you talked me into taking a trip to New York City," said one of the tourists that was being chased, which was a man in is mid sixties, who had a southern accent.  
"Oh come on Hank, how was I suppose to know the city was full of ghosts.  
The travel agent didn't bring it up when we booked out tickets," said the other tourist, a woman of the same age, who also had a southern accent as well as she tried to make light of the situation.  
"Between the crowds of the city, who the people act here and now the ghosts, I've decided.  
On our next vacation, we're going to club med!"

"Freeze ghosts!" Peter shouted.  
That caught the ghouls' attention.  
"Stand back folks, we don't want to hit you," Ray warned the tourists.  
However, just as the ghostbusters were prepared to aim, the spirits took.  
"What's this now pajama police after ghosts.  
Now I've seen everything, and it's only our first day here" said the husband.  
"Let's get back to the hotel Hank.  
If we hurry, we can catch the earliest flight out to club med," said the wife.  
"You've read my mind Beatrice."  
And with that, the tourists took off in one direction, leaving Central Park, while the ghostbusters headed the other way in search of the ghouls.


	2. Chapter 2

Since the ghosts took off of sperate directions, the ghostbusters decided that they had better luck finding the spirits if they split up.  
Peter headed north, while Ray went southward, Winston took off to the eastern area, and Egon checked out the west part of the zoo.  
The ghosts appeared to be in a great "hiding" spot, as the team couldn't find them anywhere.

Peter was scanning the chimps and leemar houses, while munching on a hotdog and soda, when his walkie talkie went off.  
"Peter come in, come in Peter," Ray's voice called through the speaker.  
Peter somehow managed to balance his snack, as he answered the walkie talkie.  
"What's up Ray," asked Peter, who had a mouth full of food and beverage.  
"And you say I eat terribly.  
All's kidding aside though, to you see anything?"  
Peter swallowed and answered, "Nothing."  
"Keep your eyes open.  
They have to be around here someplace."  
"Will do."

Egon was scanning a PKE meter in the audibon/bird station, when his walkie talkie went off.  
"Any luck on finding the ghosts Spengler?" Winston voice asked through the speaker.  
"Negative Winston," Egon answered.  
"Then what is the odd sound I keep hearing."  
"That would be the mating call of the Chinese Peacock.  
Interesting fact, while the Chinese and Indian peacock are of different origin of regions, they both.."  
Egon got cut off by Winston who said, "Never mind, I'll get back to you later if I find anything."  
"That's fine Winston.  
And I'll get in touch with you if I find the spirits."  
"Copy out."

In yet another section of the zoo, at the giraffe house and llama pit Ray was checking in all parts where he walked, with the use of ecto goggles for better view, when he spotted something.  
It was indeed the ghosts.  
Ray quickly grabbed his walkie talkie and called for his teammates.  
"Venkman, I see them!  
I found the ghosts!" said a very excitable Ray, as he called for Peter.  
Just then, the ghouls spotted Ray, and took off.  
However, he was quickly onto them.  
"They're heading your way Peter," said Ray.  
"I'll be ready for them," Peter said through the speaker.  
Ray dashed across the zoo to catch up to the ghosts.

Winston was in a different section of the zoo by the wild cats, when he heard a voice on his walkie talkie.  
"Winston, come in," Egon's voice called through the speaker.  
"What's up Spengler?" Winston, asked, after grabbing the walkie talkie out of his pocket.  
"I just got in touch with Ray.  
He spotted the ghosts, however they took off, as he was about to fire at them.  
They're heading north in Venkman's direction."  
"I'm on my way."  
"Good.  
Hopefully Ray has met up with Venkman by now, and they can keep the spirits in place, till we get there."  
"Let's hope so," said Winston, as he took off to meet his fellow ghostbusters.

By the time Ray, Winston and Egon met up with Peter, the ghouls were floating about in the leemar house, scaring the poor creatures.  
"We can't hit ghosts from inside the cage, I don't wants us risking hitting any of the animals," Egon pointed out.  
"How about we do a warning shot by the top of the cage?" Winston suggested.  
"That may work," spoke Ray.  
Let's do it then," said Peter.  
The four ghostbusters then gave a warning shot as far away as they could from the cage, so not to injure or scare the animals ever more so.  
This caused the spirits to take off once more.  
"They're getting away!" shouted Winston.  
The team took off after them.  
The ghosts appeared to head on to another cage.  
Ray, who was leading the pack got his proton wand out first, and prepared for action.  
However, the rest of the ghostbusters tried to stop him.  
"Ray! No wait!  
Don't!" Peter, Egon and Winston called out.  
It was too late.  
As it turned out, the spirits had made their way to the skunk house.  
However, Ray was unaware of where the ghosts were until he found out the hard way.  
Ray had then gotten sprayed not by one but two skunks, who were no doubt scared by the turn of events.  
The three ghostbusters rushed to their team member.  
"Raymond, are you alright?" asked Egon.  
"Ray, you ok man?" said Winston.  
"You good there buddy?" asked buddy.  
Though they would soon take several steps back, as Ray was now covered by a heavy stench of skunk spray.  
"Whoa Ray!  
No offense but you smell like that time I changed Oscar, after I gave him some of my Mexican take-out.  
Maybe worse," said Peter, who's eyes began to water from the odor.  
"No, more like the time we went on that job assignment at the pier, and those ghosts dumped that thing of fish on us," chocked Winston.  
"Gentlemen, we can argue about this later.  
Right now we have a more serious problem to deal with," Egon pointed out, getting the rest of his team mates back on track with their job.  
And sure enough, the ghosts had flown off.  
"Get them!" Peter shouted.  
The team took off once more.  
Leading the way of course was Ray, who's skunk stench began to over power, especially from the hot temperatures.  
"Uh Raymond, do you mind taking a few steps behind us.  
Not to be rude or anything the smell I'm picking up is similar to that job assignment we had had that farmhouse in Long Island and Venkman fell into that manure pile," said Egon, trying his best to be polite.  
Ray did just that, getting a few steps back from the rest of the team.  
That helped a bit, but the rest of the ghostbusters still picked up a slight stench.

The ghostbusters finally caught up to the spirits, who were spotted at the lion's den.  
"It's too dangerous to approach the area.  
We're going to have to trying luring the ghosts, unless the lions move out of the spot," Egon pointed out.  
"How are we going to do that?" asked Ray.  
By now, the skunk smell was so strong, that it actually floated into the lion den.  
The large beasts picked up the smell, and ran into their caves, whimpering like scared kittens.  
"That's our quo," spoke Peter.  
He, Winston and Egon moved closer to the den, as did Ray, who despite having that over powering stench, which was the rest of the team's idea, as away of keeping the animals away.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ready," called Peter.  
"Aim," added Ray.  
"Fire!" yelled Winston.  
And with that, the four ghostbusters shot off their proton wands at the ghouls.  
Although the team had gotten the ghosts in place, the spirits were still floating above the lion's den  
"We have to pull the ghosts out while they're still in the streams.  
It's unsafe of any of us to put a trap in place there, at the risk of the lions coming out of their cave," Egon pointed out.  
"I hear you, I don't want to be around at feeding time," said Winston.  
"How do we do that?" asked Peter.  
"Everyone move slowly towards the left," Egon answered.  
The team did just that, and now had the ghosts closer to them.  
"We have them in place!" said Peter.  
"Ray, get the trap set!" shouted Winston.  
"You got it!" Ray answered back, as he slid a trap below the ghouls.  
Ray opened the trap with a heavy stomp, as he and the rest of the team, lured the roaming vapors inside.  
Once they did, the trap was then shut tight, with only a small stream of smoke coming from the top.

"Kids stuff," Peter chuckled, as he and the rest of the ghostbusters looked down at the trap.  
"That was easier than I thought to," Ray added.  
By now, his skunk stench was way too over powering for his fellow team mates to bear.  
"Uh Ray, no offense, but can you maybe step back a bit?" asked a choking Winston.  
"Or at least take your uninform off," suggested Peter.  
"I would, except for two problems," said Ray.  
"What are they?"  
"First, the skunk odor seems to have caked into my skin and second, since it's been so hot I'm not wearing nor do I have an extra change of clothes on me.  
All I know is, it's going to take a lot of rinse cycles to get the stench out."  
"Skip washing and just burn the flightsuit," said Winston.  
"Raymond, as much I hate to resort to any final options, but we may not have a choice," said Egon.  
"What do you mean?  
What are you talking about?" asked Ray.  
"Meaning, in this situation, we're going to need a pair of scissors," Peter answered.

Despite the hot temperatures outside, the ghostbusters drove back to the firehouse with all the windows on Ecto-1 wide open.  
When the car pulled into the firehouse, the ghostbusters climbed out of the car.  
It was at that moment Jeanie took notice of Ray, who was not in his uniform except for his boots, but was only dressed in his black t-shirt and boxer shorts, that were peeking out of a large towel that he was wrapped in.  
"Ray, what happened to your uniform?  
And what is that horrible smell?" Jeanie asked, as the odor hit her.  
"Ray got skunked," Peter chuckled.  
"Just by two," spoke Ray.  
"Thank god, other wised the smell would had been 10 times worse."  
"Very funny Venkman."  
Ray changed the subject and offered to give Winston and Egon a hand with the trap.  
"That's OK Ray.  
You take what you need to do upstairs," said Winston.  
"Here Raymond.  
I hope this is enough," said Egon as he handed some bags to Ray.  
"Thanks Egon.  
If I need more, I'll let you know," said Ray.  
"What's in the bags?" asked Jeanie.  
"Tomato juice," Ray replied as he headed up the stairs.

Present day

Nearly everyone, even Jenny and Andrew laughed, once the story was over  
"I think we might had bought out ever bottle of tomato juice in town that week," Peter said with a laugh.  
"Very funny Pete," spoke Ray.  
"Come on you two, knock it off.  
That's all in the past," said Winston.  
Winston's right.  
Now that we or rather Peter has told the story, let's never speak of it again."  
"Agree," Egon added.  
"Don't worry papa, I'll protect you at the zoo from the skunks," said Andrew.  
"Thanks little guy," said Ray, as he gave his son a hug.  
And with that, the four ghostbusters and their families headed off to the zoo.

About an hour or so later however, everyone returned to the firehouse, or now known as the Spengler household.  
The families had to leave the zoo early due to an incident.  
"I can't believe that happened again," said Jeanie.  
"What are that odds of that?" asked Jenny.  
"I'm sure rare but it's possible," Grace answered.  
"You think they'd know better," Dana added.  
As it turn out, not just Ray, but Winston, Peter and Egon had gotten sprayed at the skunk cage.  
"How was I suppose to know that we were having our photo taken in front of the skunk cage," said Peter.  
"Don't tell me, you were the one who pick the spot, said Winston, who turned to Ray and said, And you were the one who suggested for us to take a photo."  
"As Jenny said, what are the odds of it happening a second time," Ray pointed out.  
"Approximitly, the numbers are 50,000 to 1," said Egon.  
"Is that a real number or just a guess?" asked Peter.  
"Since there are no actually numbers, I'm going to assume that is the possibility."  
Peter approached his kids and asked, "You don't think it was that bad?"  
"Eww! Daddy you stink," said Tabitha.  
"Smelly dad-o," added Peter Jr.  
"Not to hurt your feelings pops, but you do reak," said Oscar.  
And it wasn't just the Venkman children who said anything, the other kids to the former ghostbusters agreed as well.  
"You're stinky papa," said Andrew said to Ray.  
"Papa you smell like the time Jojo got soaked in the rain," Rhonda told Winston.  
"Sorry papa, but I don't want your smell triggering my asthma," added Gerald.  
"Not to hurt you're feelings uncle Winston, but it is a very strong smell," said Jessica.  
"Don't worry, the zoo keeper told you it's only temporary," added Christopher.  
"Your odor is rather overwhelming daddy," Lila pointed out to Egon.  
"So what do we do now?" asked Peter.  
"Looks like we have no choice but to stay here at the firehouse until we're free of the scent," said Winston.  
"All of us?"  
"Technicelly, since only the four of us had gotten sprayed, the quarantine is in effect to you, Raymond, Winston and myself," Egon pointed out.  
Because of the situation, Jenny invited Jeanie and Lila to stay with her and Andrew, until their husbands were free of the skunk smells.  
Jeanie agreed to the offer.  
Jenny, Dana and Grace told their husbands that they will drop off some of their items to have at the former ghostbusters headquarters, along with several bottles of tomato juice.  
"I can't believe this happened to us, said Peter, "How am I going to explain that I can't come in to work due to a skunk attack?"  
"We all have to give that excuse Venkman," said Egon.  
"I know for sure I'll be the laughing stock at the school," said Winston.  
"On the plus side, we get to stay at the firehouse.  
It will be just like old times.  
"Ray do me a favor and shut up," grumbled Peter.

The End 


End file.
